CARLTON co-captain Kerryn Harrington has had her defensive talents recognised, being named the 2020 Reflex Defender of the Year by Channel 9’s Womens Footy.

In her first year as co-captain, the stalwart defender was an instrumental part of the team’s back six.

Harrington‘s clean disposal and ability to read the play was among the best in the competition, ranked second in the league for disposal efficiency (81 per cent) and third for intercept possessions (46).

Speaking on Women’s Footy, Harrington spoke honestly about the disappointment surrounding the end of the AFLW season, but revealed how it just served as further motivation for the playing group to keep the momentum going in 2021.

“We lost last year’s Grand Final so we had an enormous motivation going into this year to go that one step better,” Harrington said.

“Through no fault of our own, we weren’t able to do that. I suppose for two seasons now, we’ve fell short of where we wanted to be.

“That’s certainly a challenge that we’re going to have to deal with. I think the positives that we take out of this year is that we we’ve performed consistently throughout the year and the emergence of some of our young players.”

The 28-year-old was quick to call out the impact that a new wave of Blues have had on the team’s success.

Carlton welcomed the likes of Mua Laloifi, Grace Egan and Lucy McEvoy into the fold while also seeing the likes of Charlotte Wilson, Georgia Gee and Maddy Prespakis continue their development and stamp their authority on the competition.

“We talk about Madison Prespakis all the time, but Georgia Gee, Charlotte Wilson and Mua have come on this year and just added so much to our group,” she said.

“It’s just going to be for us looking forward and seeing how much we can do over the winter to keep continuing to prepare for next season.”

With the season now over, Harrington - like many other Australians - are adjusting to life inside and enjoying the additional time she is getting to spend with her family.

The team will continue to stay in touch and work through the finer details of their off-season, looking to come back fresh and with even more drive once training resumes later this year.

“It’s very challenging, myself as well as everybody else. We go from training 20-plus hours a week with everyone and then all of a sudden, you’re completely isolated,” she said.

“There have been a fair few text messages and phone calls. There’s an app at the moment called House Party that everyone is kind of jumping on and keeping in contact.

“We’re doing the best that we can in the situation and just trying to make sure that everyone is staying safe and healthy.”